Is Lamar's Force strong enough to upset Marlins?

• Undefeated Cairns remains the men's title favourite despite Ipswich's upset credentials.
• Logan is tipped to continue its women's title defence, while Townsville's Courtney Woods looms large.
• Brisbane Bullets recruit Max Mackinnon also features after returning from LSU.

Can anyone stop the undefeated Cairns Marlins? Is Logan's women's title defence gathering momentum and are the Gold Coast Rollers the men's dark horse?

Those are among the biggest talking points from the latest episode of the Ball Don't Lie Australia podcast, which previews this weekend's NBL1 North semi-finals while analysing every quarter-final result.

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The hosts declared Cairns the team to beat in the men's competition despite warning Ipswich has the talent to end the Marlins' unbeaten season.

While tipping Cairns to reach the Grand Final, they pointed to Lamar Patterson, Lachy Anderson and Merrick Small as reasons Ipswich remains a dangerous outsider capable of springing the biggest upset of the season.

Logan Thunder also received strong backing despite concerns over the injury suffered by veteran centre Cal Dalton in the quarter-final victory against Southern Districts.

The podcast suggested Shaun Bruce's leadership, combined with Logan's defensive identity, could prove decisive against the high-powered Gold Coast Rollers, whose offensive firepower was praised as among the league's best.

In the women's competition, reigning champion Logan was rated as the side most likely to return to the Grand Final, although the availability of Mackay star River Baldwin after her frightening fall in the quarter-final remains one of the biggest storylines of the weekend.

Townsville's Courtney Woods also earned glowing praise after exploding for 42 points in the opening week of the finals, with the hosts tipping her to again be the difference-maker against Cairns in one of the weekend's marquee match-ups.

Beyond the semi-final previews, the episode also celebrated Brisbane product Max Mackinnon's return home after signing with the Brisbane Bullets following an impressive college career at LSU, where he averaged almost 16 points per game while shooting 37 per cent from three-point range.

NBL1 North Semi-Finals

Women

• Cairns Dolphins vs Townsville Flames
• Logan Thunder vs Mackay Meteorettes

Men

• Gold Coast Rollers vs Logan Thunder
• Cairns Marlins vs Ipswich Force

The latest episode also includes the hosts' semi-final predictions, discussion around the league's championship favourites and a light-hearted edition of the popular "Crack'em" basketball card quiz.

About Ball Don't Lie

Ball Don't Lie Australia has been covering the NBL1 North for multiple years. Host Mal Crawford is being joined weekly by current and former players, coaches, commentators, GMs to breakdown the North. With deep dives into games and team breakdowns across the league from as far south as Gold Coast, as north as Cairns and every team in between. Don’t forget predictions, side bets and of course some silly games along the way.

Mal Crawford has been hooked on basketball since being taken to his first junior comp when he was in Year 2 of primary school, by his basketball loving Mum. Mal is the play by play commentator of the Brisbane Capitals as well as the Ipswich Force. He can be heard on multiple Game of the week broadcasts on Kayo every season and has been called up to the NBL1 National finals as a commentator to boot. Mal has been covering North with Commentary and podcasting since the rebrand to the NBL1 North five seasons ago.

What to expect from Ball Don’t Lie Australia throughout the season:

• Breakdowns of the big games of the round
• Player and Coach interviews
• Predictions across the round, season
• Weekly ladder looks, whose up and whose down and why
• Fun Games such as ‘Crackem’, ‘Whose that teammate’ and others that listeners can play along with that put guests in the hot seat